Sunday, January 6, 2013

Empowered Women in the Religious Right

During the last election cycle, we heard a lot of talk about the “war on women.” Often, it didn't feel like a hyperbole. Democrats would look at Republican women, shake their heads, and say, “How could they possibly be a part of a political movement where they are so disempowered?”

It would be easy for those of us who lean to the Left of the political spectrum to dismiss the Right by saying that they are waging a war on women, but that would deny the whole picture. What about Sarah Palin? What about Michelle Bachmann? And what about the other Grizzly Mamas who are being plucked, groomed and prepared as we speak?

I loved reading Alisa Harris’ Raised Right, because it reminded me so much of my own teen experience. As a young woman, she was formed and nurtured in political thinking. It was part of her faith journey. And that's common among Religious Right circles.

Can you name many up-and-coming progressive women who are influenced or nurtured by religious groups? Who are the smart, young feminists who are thinking about policy issues in light of their faith? Who are the women we are teaching the art of the sound byte to? Who are the ones progressives are grooming for office? I know a lot of women who are qualified, but I can’t really point to any one who is being nurtured like our good old boys are. When I talk to men and women who are trying to do this work, they often confide to me, "It's hard to get any funding. When we tell someone that we're a Christian organization then we lose our money from progressives. When Christians find out that we're trying to do social justice work, they don't want to support us either."

The truth is that young women are empowered in the Religious Right.
They are groomed and they are educated to join the movement against
gender equality. Their power can be reduced to their biological
functions—in the sense that the core of their fight and causes tend to
be focused on pro-life issues and protecting their notion of the family.
And women are often sexualized—in the sense that this stunning piece of footage
has gotten four million hits. But we really cannot deny women are
empowered in the religious wing of conservative thought—which seems to
be more than religious progressives are doing.

Do I think that we
need to emulate what the Religious Right is doing? No. But I do think
we need to be honest about how little Christian Progressives do to
support women. Simply belittling conservatives does not do much to help
women thrive in our society.